Ace reporter Lee Tracy has to ditch a hot date with a redhead to find out why someone is trying to blow up exiled Grand Duke Alec B. Francis. This leads him to Vichy, where he meets charming Gloria Stuart from Baltimore....who is actually the Princess Royal of Ruritania and engages to hilariously dull Onslow Stevens. But not everyone wants the restoration of the monarchy, and there are assassins with machine guns roaming about, as well as Roger Pryor trying to beat Tracy to the story. It's fun, it's fast moving, and it's got Leon Ames, Herman Bing, and the dancer is Dorothy Granger. Eddie Sedgwick keeps things humming along.
4 Reviews
News of the World.
morrison-dylan-fan18 February 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Taking a look at film maker James Whale's IMDb page a few days ago,I noticed that actress Gloria Stuart was one of his regular collaborators.With a poll being held on IMDbs Classic Film board for the best films of 1934,I started searching round for titles that Stuart had made that year,which led to me stumbling across a great sounding movie,that caused me to start talking to the world.
The plot:
Being credited as the reporter who has landed his newspaper with the world's biggest stories, journalist Stanley Brown is told by his editor to cancel all of his holiday plans and instead head to Greece.Brown is told that this is due to there being reports that Grand Duke Ferdinand ,(whose real life tragic ending the movie stays miles away from!)is going there with his family for a birthday celebration.
Arriving in Greece,Brown soon begins using all of his journalistic skills,which leading to Brown gaining entry to the Ferdinand's hideout. Attempting to get any scrap of info from the Grand Duke,Brown begins talking to a beautiful woman called Jane Hamilton,who appears to be one of the Ferdinand's advisers .Unknown to Brown,Hamilton is actually Princess Ferdinand,who is planning to return to her home country as queen,but first must face some deadly plans from the Ferdinand's advisers.
View on the film:
Whilst the print to this Pre-Code (complete with short-cut dresses!) is sadly a bit "jumpy",director Edward Sedgwick & cinematographer Jerome Ash's delightful atmosphere is still able to shine,with Sedgwick using long distance,lingering shots,to create a sinister mood which bubbles over the smooth Comedy.For the screenplay of the film,the writers (deep breath) Lincoln Quarberg/Ralph Spence/Dale Van Every & Frank Wead keep the slap-stick Comedy moving at a lightning fast pace,as the writers match quick one liners ("Here your phone!")with extremely funny physical Comedy (such as the distance that Brown will go to get some breaking news.)
Along with the joyful Comedy,the writers also use the real life Ferdinand as a route to giving the title a deep Crime cut,which gradually reveals itself,as Brown begins to realise that he has dug up a story that he never expected.
Looking absolutely dazzling, Gloria Stuart gives an excellent performance as Jane Hamilton, (who is not based on Veronica Hart!)thanks to Stuart slowly melting Hamilton's icy vibes,to reveal a real warmth for her country,and for Brown.Keeping track of the Ferdinand's every step of the way, Lee Tracy (who in 1945,would appear in another movie with the same title!) gives a fantastic performance as Stanley Brown,with Tracy lighting up the screen in fast-paced slap-stick scenes which allow Tracy to display all of his Comedy skills,as Brown tries to escape from danger.Matching his Comedy bite,Tracy also gives Brown a strong rugged edge,which along with giving the scenes with Stuart a wonderful melodramatic tone,also have Tracy showing desperation in Brown's eyes,as Brown attempts to stop the Ferdinand's from making the front page.
The plot:
Being credited as the reporter who has landed his newspaper with the world's biggest stories, journalist Stanley Brown is told by his editor to cancel all of his holiday plans and instead head to Greece.Brown is told that this is due to there being reports that Grand Duke Ferdinand ,(whose real life tragic ending the movie stays miles away from!)is going there with his family for a birthday celebration.
Arriving in Greece,Brown soon begins using all of his journalistic skills,which leading to Brown gaining entry to the Ferdinand's hideout. Attempting to get any scrap of info from the Grand Duke,Brown begins talking to a beautiful woman called Jane Hamilton,who appears to be one of the Ferdinand's advisers .Unknown to Brown,Hamilton is actually Princess Ferdinand,who is planning to return to her home country as queen,but first must face some deadly plans from the Ferdinand's advisers.
View on the film:
Whilst the print to this Pre-Code (complete with short-cut dresses!) is sadly a bit "jumpy",director Edward Sedgwick & cinematographer Jerome Ash's delightful atmosphere is still able to shine,with Sedgwick using long distance,lingering shots,to create a sinister mood which bubbles over the smooth Comedy.For the screenplay of the film,the writers (deep breath) Lincoln Quarberg/Ralph Spence/Dale Van Every & Frank Wead keep the slap-stick Comedy moving at a lightning fast pace,as the writers match quick one liners ("Here your phone!")with extremely funny physical Comedy (such as the distance that Brown will go to get some breaking news.)
Along with the joyful Comedy,the writers also use the real life Ferdinand as a route to giving the title a deep Crime cut,which gradually reveals itself,as Brown begins to realise that he has dug up a story that he never expected.
Looking absolutely dazzling, Gloria Stuart gives an excellent performance as Jane Hamilton, (who is not based on Veronica Hart!)thanks to Stuart slowly melting Hamilton's icy vibes,to reveal a real warmth for her country,and for Brown.Keeping track of the Ferdinand's every step of the way, Lee Tracy (who in 1945,would appear in another movie with the same title!) gives a fantastic performance as Stanley Brown,with Tracy lighting up the screen in fast-paced slap-stick scenes which allow Tracy to display all of his Comedy skills,as Brown tries to escape from danger.Matching his Comedy bite,Tracy also gives Brown a strong rugged edge,which along with giving the scenes with Stuart a wonderful melodramatic tone,also have Tracy showing desperation in Brown's eyes,as Brown attempts to stop the Ferdinand's from making the front page.
Warner Brothers style newspaper caper
AlsExGal30 January 2010
This film has the look and feel of the 1930's Warner Brothers press room comedy/dramas even though it was made by Universal. Probably a lot of that "Warner's atmosphere" comes from Lee Tracy, here playing the same type of role he did over at Warner Brothers during the precode years - the hard-boiled wise-cracking newspaper guy who'll do anything to get a story but always manages to fall for the girl who's at the center of whatever headline he's after.
Here Tracy is Stanley Brown, a reporter who never seems to get a day off. One night he's all dressed up for a hot date when the boss sends him out to follow the 80 year-old Archduke Ferdinand, exiled prince of a small country, who keeps having narrow brushes with death that appear to be assassination attempts. After the Archduke's taxi blows up on the docks right after he boards a ship for Europe, Stanley is instructed by his boss to get on the ship too and find out who wants the Archduke dead and why.
Complicating matters is the fact that Stanley has quite a competition going with another newspaper's reporter, William S. Briggs (Roger Pryor). Briggs is on the trail of the same story. The two are constantly pulling tricks on one another in an attempt to get the big headline. Their dynamic reminds me of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, with Lee Tracy as Bugs Bunny, of course - he always gets the upper hand in the end. Gloria Stuart plays Tracy's love interest in this story as a fellow American he runs into (literally) while in Europe. However, Stuart's character has a big secret that figures prominently into the plot.
Look for a couple of future stars in extremely small roles. First, there is Ward Bond as a dirigible captain whose ship has made an emergency landing in the Arctic at the beginning of the film. Second there is Walter Brennan, almost unrecognizable with a gray beard and mustache - you can only recognize him by his trademark voice. Brennan has a humorous bit as a telephone repairman who just can't seem to fix the only phone in town fast enough to suit Briggs. Earlier in the film Stanley used the phone to call in his story to the newspapers and then ripped it out of the wall to keep Briggs from doing the same.
The story is interesting and well-paced, the jokes punchy, and the romance believable. In summary, I'd highly recommend this hard-to-find little film from the Universal vaults if it ever comes your way.
Here Tracy is Stanley Brown, a reporter who never seems to get a day off. One night he's all dressed up for a hot date when the boss sends him out to follow the 80 year-old Archduke Ferdinand, exiled prince of a small country, who keeps having narrow brushes with death that appear to be assassination attempts. After the Archduke's taxi blows up on the docks right after he boards a ship for Europe, Stanley is instructed by his boss to get on the ship too and find out who wants the Archduke dead and why.
Complicating matters is the fact that Stanley has quite a competition going with another newspaper's reporter, William S. Briggs (Roger Pryor). Briggs is on the trail of the same story. The two are constantly pulling tricks on one another in an attempt to get the big headline. Their dynamic reminds me of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, with Lee Tracy as Bugs Bunny, of course - he always gets the upper hand in the end. Gloria Stuart plays Tracy's love interest in this story as a fellow American he runs into (literally) while in Europe. However, Stuart's character has a big secret that figures prominently into the plot.
Look for a couple of future stars in extremely small roles. First, there is Ward Bond as a dirigible captain whose ship has made an emergency landing in the Arctic at the beginning of the film. Second there is Walter Brennan, almost unrecognizable with a gray beard and mustache - you can only recognize him by his trademark voice. Brennan has a humorous bit as a telephone repairman who just can't seem to fix the only phone in town fast enough to suit Briggs. Earlier in the film Stanley used the phone to call in his story to the newspapers and then ripped it out of the wall to keep Briggs from doing the same.
The story is interesting and well-paced, the jokes punchy, and the romance believable. In summary, I'd highly recommend this hard-to-find little film from the Universal vaults if it ever comes your way.
Thoroughly excellent little comedy-romance
rick_710 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
First off, a confession. I'm a massive Lee Tracy fan. From the moment I first saw him in the classic 1933 satire Bombshell, playing a wisecracking moral vacuum of a publicity man, I was transfixed. Since then I've tracked down every Tracy film I can, and from soapers (You Belong to Me, Carnival) to political drama (The Best Man) to social fantasy (Turn Back the Clock) to pure comedy (Blessed Event), they're all so very, very good. And Tracy is invariably sensational.
I'll Tell the World, from 1934, is one of the star's best, playing like a less cynical take on the previous year's Clear All Wires! As so often, Tracy's a reporter who takes to outrageous means to scoop his rival (Roger Pryor), whilst trading epithets with a grumpy editor (Willard Robertson). And as usual, his exuberance and skulduggery gets him the inside track on the stories that matter. There's a hilarious opening bit here that sees Tracy tracking a downed zeppelin to a remote, snow-capped cabin. By the time he returns to the office the next day, his boss has already moved on to the next story. Robertson tasks Tracy with following an elderly Archduke who's being targeted by terrorists, and our story proper begins. As with Roberta and Tovarich, the film also concerns itself with a European princess (Gloria Stuart), estranged from her homeland, and with whom Tracy falls in love.
The movie begins with its tongue firmly-in-cheek and the gags running thick and fast. But while there are plenty of sharp one-liners in the second half (including a hilarious running joke about phones that ropes in Walter Brennan), there's also suspense, intrigue and a generous helping of romance. In fact, I've never seen Tracy so sincere. He's usually playing up so relentlessly that there's barely time to convince his girl he's on the level before he's off again, doing whatever it is he's just promised not to. Here he plays it square with Stuart and the results are extremely affecting.
Tracy was a special actor, with a dynamism and charisma that no-one since has really matched. This film is an ideal showcase for his considerable talents. But while I've enjoyed some of Gloria Stuart's performances (The Prisoner of Shark Island, Wanted! Jane Turner - also opposite Tracy - The Whistler, and the James Cameron version of Titanic, where she played Old Rose), I've often found her a slightly bland presence. Here she's utterly superb, articulating her character's dilemmas with subtlety and honesty. There's a good supporting cast too, including Walter Brennan as a bicycle repair man moonlighting as a phone engineer, Herman Bing as a waiter, Ward Bond playing a pilot and an impossibly young Leon Ames appearing as Tracy's agency contact - he's billed as Leon Waycoff and is wearing more eye-shadow that Stuart.
I'll Tell the World is exceptionally difficult to get hold of, but I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys classic comedy. The script is zingy, Edward Sedgwick's direction is smart and unobtrusive and the plot moves like wildfire. This one comes with a warning, though - once you've seen Tracy do his thing, you'll want to get hold of everything he's ever done.
I'll Tell the World, from 1934, is one of the star's best, playing like a less cynical take on the previous year's Clear All Wires! As so often, Tracy's a reporter who takes to outrageous means to scoop his rival (Roger Pryor), whilst trading epithets with a grumpy editor (Willard Robertson). And as usual, his exuberance and skulduggery gets him the inside track on the stories that matter. There's a hilarious opening bit here that sees Tracy tracking a downed zeppelin to a remote, snow-capped cabin. By the time he returns to the office the next day, his boss has already moved on to the next story. Robertson tasks Tracy with following an elderly Archduke who's being targeted by terrorists, and our story proper begins. As with Roberta and Tovarich, the film also concerns itself with a European princess (Gloria Stuart), estranged from her homeland, and with whom Tracy falls in love.
The movie begins with its tongue firmly-in-cheek and the gags running thick and fast. But while there are plenty of sharp one-liners in the second half (including a hilarious running joke about phones that ropes in Walter Brennan), there's also suspense, intrigue and a generous helping of romance. In fact, I've never seen Tracy so sincere. He's usually playing up so relentlessly that there's barely time to convince his girl he's on the level before he's off again, doing whatever it is he's just promised not to. Here he plays it square with Stuart and the results are extremely affecting.
Tracy was a special actor, with a dynamism and charisma that no-one since has really matched. This film is an ideal showcase for his considerable talents. But while I've enjoyed some of Gloria Stuart's performances (The Prisoner of Shark Island, Wanted! Jane Turner - also opposite Tracy - The Whistler, and the James Cameron version of Titanic, where she played Old Rose), I've often found her a slightly bland presence. Here she's utterly superb, articulating her character's dilemmas with subtlety and honesty. There's a good supporting cast too, including Walter Brennan as a bicycle repair man moonlighting as a phone engineer, Herman Bing as a waiter, Ward Bond playing a pilot and an impossibly young Leon Ames appearing as Tracy's agency contact - he's billed as Leon Waycoff and is wearing more eye-shadow that Stuart.
I'll Tell the World is exceptionally difficult to get hold of, but I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys classic comedy. The script is zingy, Edward Sedgwick's direction is smart and unobtrusive and the plot moves like wildfire. This one comes with a warning, though - once you've seen Tracy do his thing, you'll want to get hold of everything he's ever done.
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